5 out of 5

Label: Brutal Panda Records / Nuclear Blast

Produced by: Julius Mauranen, Oranssi Pazuzu

There are some aspects of Oranssi Pazuzu’s Mestarin kynsi that arguably don’t work. The swap of Niko Lehdontie for longtime guitarist Moit on guitar and synths introduces a wild new range of electronics that allow for some possible overreach, and the production – perhaps trying to balance out these additions – can sometimes feel a little flat.

However.

OP is one of the most inventive, artistic, and yet focused black metal acts of all time. I am – for sure – a layperson in the genre, but I’d still be willing to go to bat for that declaration, with “focused” being a key word in it: for most acts (in any genre), when they experiment… they experiment. As in it’s kind of temporary. They do “an electronic album” or “a pop album” or have some kind of overriding shtick – it’s all acoustic; it’s all covers – and then they go back and do their regular thing. Pazuzu, meanwhile, have never not sounded like Pazuzu, and have also never not blasted the doors off with reverbed growls and cavern-scraping guitars: metal of the deepest, darkest variety is the guidepost, and when they decide to expand their sound, it gets added to that instead of done as a kind of sidestep. And yet their sound is always evolving to embrace things that aren’t directly tied to black metal, but they swallow it up and make it theirs.

So whether directly as a result of Niko’s addition (my framing) or not, the grand experiment for Mestarin is a forefronting of electronics – and almost dance-like beats. You’ll see strings in the credit list, and I hear horns as well, though perhaps that’s a digital inclusion. If you’re cringing at this point, I’d point to the above paragraph: it’s insane how these elements are both expertly blended into the intensity (which is arguably amped up from Värähtelijä) but also given full relevance in the songs. The swaying grind that is the basis for most of OP’s music remains; Jun-His has shifted towards a creaking, mewing vocal that still explodes on many occasions, and the guitars and drums utterly destroy speakers when the 7+ minute tracks hit their peaks. Mingled with that – or guiding it, or working with it – are electronic beats, and a lighter range of synths than before, making for this very weird layer that somehow makes the heavier stuff sound even heavier.

As to what “doesn’t” work: OP’s songs generally build slowly, maintaining a melody throughout. That isn’t necessarily changed here, but there are more vignettes during songs – changeups in pace or alterations made to that melody, which feel like an adjustment to allow the electronics layer more room to explore. On Tyhjyyden Sakramentti, this arguably goes a step too far towards breaking the track’s overall flow, but I’m so impressed by how weird and effective this mash-up is overall that it comes across as a worthwhile experiment – returning to that term – that you appreciate the more and more you listen to it. And I’d called out the production; I think / I imagine it was hard to figure out how to balance things to maintain the heaviness I’m praising, leading to a somewhat restrained mix. You still get plenty of ear-splitting moments, and stuff that hits you in the gut; without me knowing a better way to have balanced out the levels, I get it, and I stopped noticing it after a couple spins.

Just an utterly mesmerizing listen. The kind of thing where, even once you’re inured to a band’s abilities, your jaw drops at what they’re doing.